5000 Ways to Love You – Page 53 – Exploring the world of NZ On Air music video funding

Hannah Donald “Thinking Of You”

Hannah Donald is a Christian singer who was later nominated for Best Gospel/Christian Album at the 2007 NZ Music Awards. “Thinking of You” was a track on that album, released four years after the song was initially funded.

It’s not an overtly Christian song, though I’m sure the spirit of Jesus in there if you know where to look. It’s also not the sort of pop song that was popular in the early 2002. It has more of an ’80s sound, like the sort of thing Sharon O’Neill would have released.

The video is set in Auckland and opens with a great DIY aerial shot of the rain-soaked city, courtesy of the Sky Tower. And because it’s a rainy day, Hannah spends most of the video moping around Auckland, wearing different hairstyles and outfits.

The misery continues until she stops by the Open Late Cafe (RIP) in Ponsonby and has a coffee – and because it’s during the day, she’ll all by herself. But this leads to a more cheerful mood, with a joyful dance in the rain. See, it’s not so bad.

It’s a nice song and a nice video, but it just doesn’t feel strong enough or interesting enough to survive in a pop world alongside Shakira or Avril Lavigne.

Best bit: the old stained glass windows at the Open Late.

Next… a long walk.

Epsilon Blue “u r a star”

In a post-Strawpeople world, electronica act Epsilon Blue have the chilled-out “u r a star” (all their song titles are in lowercase), with lush guest vocals from Josephine Costain. It was their first and only NZ On Air funded video.

The song’s lyrics primarily consist of “you are a star” repeated over and over, but as my fourth form English teacher said, repetition can be used to get the point across. So what’s the point here? Well, that the subject of the song is a star. Madonna took a similar thematic route with her 1983 hit “Lucky Star”, heavenly bodies and all.

The video takes an astronomical theme, with an elegant assortment of telescopes, monitors, knobs and levers, all culminating in some big old satellite dishes. This all implies that the “you” in question literally is a star, a luminous sphere out in the milky way. If that’s the case, then this video take a tired concept (“baby, you’re a star”) and turns it into an ode to celestial bodies.

It’s a very attractive video, with the camera slowly gliding around the scientific equipment. Most of all I’m pleased that a video can be set in a scientific setting without resorting to the old “mad scientist” trope.

Best bit: The R&B hands that Josephine briefly does near the end. So 2002.

Director: Paul Redican

Next… what to do when it rains.

Eight “Moments Gone”

After the very serious video for previous single “Whale” (starring the lone traveller and his crossroads conflict), Eight return with a much more lighthearted video for “Moments Gone” – but a song with the same epic rock scope as “Whale”.

This time the action centres around the unusual goings-on in the lobby of a building. Away in a dark room, a man with a neckbrace and a stern bespectacled woman review a security tape, trying to get to the bottom of the incident that saw him end up with a neck injury.

On the tape we discover an assortment of wacky zany madcap characters causing chaos in the lobby. There’s a cleaner who seems more interested in using his mop like a mike stand, a naked guy, shifty fellows in trenchcoats and fedoras, aloha party office workers, a girl on rollerskates, a flasher and, in a special cameo, the traveller from “Whale”.

The tape also shows the source of the man’s injury – he slipped on a banana peel. But how did the banana get there? Why, it was dropped by a giant gorilla. The woman quickly works up a sketch of the culprit. But is this fair? Surely the cleaner should have noticed the banana peel and picked it up. But no – he was too busy pretending to be a rock star to do his job properly.

Here’s my dilemma. It’s a fun video, but it seems completely at odds with the tone of the song. It’s more like the sort of goofy adventures drummer Paul Russell’s old band Supergroove would have had in their early videos. These guys have a mature rock sound. Their video should be more advanced than a high-school-quality romp.

Best bit: the sketch artist’s detailed likeness of the gorilla.

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… written in the stars.

Bic Runga “Get Some Sleep”

There’s the old maxim “write what you know”, which comes with a caution in the world of pop. As soon as an artist becomes successful, their ordinary life becomes that of a constantly travelling entertainer and soon bands start writing epic songs about “the road”.

With the first single off her second album, Bic Runga had also reached that point, with this ode to the tiring routine of a promo tour. Thankfully the video avoids the temptation of showing Bic having Groundhog Day moments in record shops around America. Instead the video sees her driving around New Zealand in a mobile radio station van. And radio is so much more romantic than sleep deprivation.

As she travels through picturesque New Zealand towns, picturesque young people listen to her broadcast. It makes everyone happy. It inspires people to dance. Life is sweet.

The mobile studio’s technology is interesting. Bic plays a CD, but there’s also an LP spinning (that van must have serious shock absorbers). And occasionally we see a tiny grainy, digital shot of Bic broadcasting, which I’m guessing is a webcam shot, back when webcams were tiny and grainy.

With the chorus wondering if Bic is having fun (she believes she might be), the video gives a more definitive answer. Yes, she is. She’s hooning around the country with a dog and a dude, playing records, meeting fans and enjoying herself. And the final shot of Bic finally taking the wheel of the van makes it clear that she’s in charge.

Best bit: the appearance of dudes with stretched earlobes.

Note: There’s an alternate version of the video, which I assume was made for international audiences. It takes a more literal and more glamorous angle, with Bic rolling around on a hotel bed, before running off into a limousine. It was directed by UK director Alexander Hemming, who around the same time had directed the slick-as “Just a Little” video for UK Popstars rejects Liberty X.

Directors: Ann Kim, Graham Sinclair
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… caught on camera.

Augustino “Captain Zero”

“Captain Zero” is an unusual song in that it’s quite good, but also not. It’s a hook-laden pop-rock number, but yet it somehow feels a bit too clean. It’s like if there was a movie about an indie rock band that had one big hit record, this would be it. And it wouldn’t quite be convincing.

The video is just as nice. The video starts with shots of the band lazing around a bar. While the song is kicking off with great energy, the band looks tired and depressed as they slouch in the bar’s booths. But as soon as the first verse begins, the band are suddenly in position with their instruments, rocking out.

The proper bandmanship continues until the chorus, a laid-back bit regarding Captain Zero himself. This sees the band return to their lazy-arsed positions, all looking fairly disappointed by this Captain Zero chap.

This alternating style continues, but as the song approaches its end, things get shaken up a little. The camera begins to wobble and go in and out of focus, as if it’s been overcome by the intensity of strange world of Captain Zero. This is a bit of a trademark of Greg Page, something that has taken on an uneasy new meaning after the earthquakes of recent years.

New video editing technology is put to use with a filter that keeps only red colours, rendering everything else in black and white. Now it’s the sort of thing you could now do with an iPhone app, but back in 2002 it was a cool new thing.

Maybe I’m inflicting really high standards on Augustino based on their previously brilliant videos and songs. “Captain Zero” is a good video and a good song, but it just feels like there’s something missing.

Best bit: the serious jacket pocket zip-up.

Director: Greg Page
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… pirate radio.

The Feelers “Communicate”

Aw yeah, the Feelers are back with the title track from their second album. Since their previous album, things had changed. The band were a couple of years older, but seem to have ditched the rock star trappings of their previous videos. In fact, this video marks the moment when James Feelers adopted the more casual look that would see him compared to political one-hit wonder Aaron Gilmore a decade later.

The video begins with a bleak hazy orange landscape, struck by sinister bolts of lightning. And I’m thinking, ok, is the video going to be set on Mars? But no. It’s earth and here comes James Feelers walking towards the camera in a t-shirt, baggy jeans and a cap, like someone who’s heading back to the car after making a pee stop on the Desert Road.

The video then alternates between James walking around some sand dunes and the rest of the band putting in a low-energy performance of the song. How low energy? The bass player is sitting down.

Finally James stumbles across a door in the middle of the sand dunes, opens it and discovers his lazy-arse band set up in a makeshift room. Crazy! Surreal! Etc! There is a TV in the room. And – get this – it has a pot plant on top. And just in case things didn’t seem weird enough, it then starts raining.

It’s like because the Feelers have ditched the eyeliner, silver trousers and giant killer punks, the music video has to pick up the slack. But I suspect that the Feelers are actually more comfortable with this casual look. After all, the chorus proudly asserts, “We communicate without any style.”

Best bit: the slow-mo O-face of James Feelers in the rain.

Director: Matthew Metcalfe
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… charge up your batteries.

Tadpole “Nothing New”

How did Tadpole end up making such bleak videos? Their earlier ones were lively, cool works that showcased the band’s pop-rock talents. But it seems that in later years the band got very very serious, like a teenager dying their hair black.

Yet “Nothing New” is a very stylish video, with Renee dressed as an ice princess of sorts, queen of a winter wonderland, elaborately decorated with flamingos, a bird not usually found in cold climates.

The rest of the band is arranged behind her – guitarist to the left, bassist to the right, drummer directly behind her. And here’s the thing – they barely move. All the band members stand as still as possible, moving only for the slightly effort required to play their instrument or sing. The contrast is noticeable in the chorus where it’s clearly audible that the band are rocking real hard as, yet they’re only shown doing their little twitching movements.

It results in a tension. The song is about a relationship breakdown and the video does help portray that stress, so good on the video makers for achieving that.

But there’s another part of me that is annoyed with the video. “Nothing New” is a good single, but the video shuts down a lot of the energy the song has. The visuals manage to suppress the wilder rock side and make it feel like a ballad. And, ok, Renee looks fabulous dressed as the ice queen, but I remember when she used to jump around a lot. I want Tadpole to party like it’s 1999.

Best bit: the bass player’s flick of the head, the one concession to the lure of the rhythm.

Directors: Alex Sutherland, Michael Lonsdale
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… wet t-shirt time.

P-Money feat. Scribe and 4 Corners “Synchronize Thoughts”

So, one afternoon in 2002 I was visiting my friend Dylan who worked in an office off Karangahape Road, sharing space with a TV production company and various other industry folk. Walking past one office, Dylz showed me a guy hard at work editing a music video. Giant orange letters floated around the screen, accompanied with the sound of Eastern European music mixed with hip hop stylings. I didn’t know what I was looking at, but there was something most intriguing about this video.

It turned out that the guy hard at work was director Wade Shotter and the video was P-Money’s second single “Synchronize Thoughts”, featuring Scribe and hip hop trio 4 Corners. It was another track that proved P-Money’s remarkable skills as a DJ and a producer, and further established Scribe as a hot young MC. Though, like previous single “Scribe 2001”, people tend to remember your name when it’s repeated throughout the chorus.

The video seems to have a somewhat higher budget than the DIY effort of “Scribe 2001”, but while it’s a simple set-up, the video has a slick, stylish look to it. The verses focus on the particular MC on vocal duty. They’re shot in the corner of a dark, shadowy room, and the minimal setting lets the lyrics stand out.

And it’s everyone in when the chorus comes along. Scribe takes the lead, with 4 Corners and P-Money backing him up. It’s a supremely confident video for a bunch of newcomers. But it’s pitched perfectly – it ain’t bragging if it’s true.

Best bit: the don’t-give-a-damn ending with just P-Money scratching.

Director: Wade Shotter
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… ice ice baby.

King Kapisi “Conversate”

A while ago I was speculating that Salmonella Dub’s “Push On Thru” journey to a ski slope could be the first half of the adventure Wham continue in their “Last Christmas” video. But here’s a much more interesting second half of a winter wonderland video scenario.

“This is a Urale clan production,” declares Kapisi at the beginning, and indeed it is, a lively, fun romp in the snow directed by the man himself, produced by his sister and edited by his cousin.

The “Conversate” video is set at the Cardrona skifield (“from Krush Groove to crushed ice”), with Kapisi taking his place on a throne made of packed snow while violinist Sam Konise stands next to him, playing along. Dammit, I want an ice throne and a violinist to punctuation my rhymes. There’s also action shots of snowboarders, clips of a ski simulator video game, and DJ CXL on the cut. So already the video manages to be more amazing in the first 20 seconds than Salmonella Dub managed in the whole video.

“Conversate” is a lyrical smackdown, a declaration from Kapisi, asserting his steez as a top MC. “Standing firm in a river of blood, killing you and your homies,” he alarmingly brags. The cliche would be to set this video in an urban setting, deep in a mean-as world of tough guys.

Instead Kapisi has hit the slopes, mainly alone with his violinist and his ice throne, otherwise surrounded by fellow snowboarders. So what does this say? Is his message so powerful that it can travel from Central Otago skifields to the urban streets? Or has he come to the skifield to assert himself there, a message of warning to any wack MCs snowboarders? Or maybe he’s been exiled to the snow, driving away from the city by an MC with greater steez, leaving Kapisi to attempt to create a new life at Cardrona. I get the feeling it wouldn’t take much to be the best MC at a ski resort. But hey – only King Kapisi has a throne of ice. Super cool.

http://youtu.be/QqcxgnzsDeM

Director: King Kapisi
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… always willing and able.

Dean Chandler “Waiting”

After a previous attempt at the world of music with the duo Before Friday, Dean Chandler went solo and reached 42 in the charts with debut single “Waiting”. He has a light voice, like Robbie Williams on his more playful tracks.

The video was shot in Dean’s hometown of Wellington and we him Dean sitting at a bar. He’s sitting with a beer (label turned away from camera) and has something in front of him that might be a notebook, a fancy cocktail menu or maybe even the lyrics to the song.

Dean spends most of the video sitting at the bar, alone, earnestly singing to the camera. But this is cut with scenes of him walking the rainy city streets, being all moody. There’s no excuse for it, really. In reality, he can take advantage of Wellington’s excellent public transport system and catch a bus to somewhere warm and dry.

He’s shown walking outside the Wakefield Hotel in Maginnity Street. A friend once told me this is the only street in Wellington that doesn’t feel like “Wellington”. You can’t see the hills or the sea from there, and that’s probably why it’s a popular location for film shoots. Most of the other outdoor shots are like this – locations that look cool and urban and aren’t iconic Wellington scenes.

So basically Dean waits at this bar and sings “I’m sick of waiting”. And the “you” of the song never shows up so he leaves, and from there he wanders around in the rain.

It’s a nice, inoffensive song, but the video drags it down and makes it more of a bummer than it needs to be. Like, dude, go and buy that other girl in a bar a drink and stop being such a miserable c-word.

Best bit: the Elvis sneer, a little moment of freedom.

Director: Tim Groenendaal
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the ice king cometh.